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Originally Posted by LechM
Do you think the VR has lived up to the hype?
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We're just getting started.
I just entered my sixth year of using VR. First tried the DK1 in March 2013. It has been the most transformative technology of my life. But as far as mainstream penetration? Hardly a dent. Many people think their brief experience with a poorly-stitched 360 video in a Google Cardboard is what VR has to offer right now.
Just wanted to mention some other bits.
Social VR -- in particular Altspace VR, VR Chat, Bigscreen, Rec Room, and TheWaveVR -- is really taking off.
Playstation VR may have some drawbacks compared to Vive and Rift (positional tracking especially), but it's winning the sales race among those three by a lot.
Samsung Odyssey -- this Windows MR system has been available since mid-November and boasts the same resolution as the Vive Pro. I owned one for eight weeks before refunding it (thanks to Microsoft's extremely generous extended holiday returns). The display was quite good, a decent 33% upgrade over Vive/Rift. I gave it back due to its controller tracking, lack of comfort, and lackluster SteamVR integration. And I didn't really benefit from the portability of WMR (the headset uses inside-out tracking using cameras that see the walls, unlike the inside-out tracking of the Vive which depends on infrared laser basestations or the outside-in tracking of the Rift).
There are several other Windows MR headsets that aren't as pricey as the Odyssey. They're not as good, either, as they use LCD screens, have no IPD adjustment, have no microphone or integrated audio, and their lenses are smaller. On the plus side, they are light, comfy for many people, and inexpensive. The HP version was going for $199 at one point, not bad for a full system.
One thing holding VR back, especially as of late, is the expense. Cryptocurrency mining is often done using GPUs (3D video cards), so it's become hard to find powerful GPUs (nVidia 1060s and up) and when you do find them you're looking at very inflated prices. This situation doesn't exactly seem ready to change. There are rumors that nVidia will be pricing their next line of consumer-level GPUs, starting with the Geforce 1185, at $1000 or higher (the previous 1080 debuted at $650 two years ago).
Ready Player One debuts tonight -- in fact, I'm going with three other people, starts in under two and a half hours! Anyway, this film may help spur some interest in VR even if it doesn't ultimately lead to a bunch of short-term sales increases.
Oculus has a system in development with the codename "Santa Cruz." It'll be the first of its kind as it'll be a standalone (no phone nor PC required) with six degrees of freedom / positional tracking for both the headset AND the controllers. The headset uses inside-out tracking for the headset like WMR, while the controllers are tracked by the headset but with FOUR cameras instead of the two that WMR uses (should give much wider range of motion tracking). Being standalone, it'll be completely untethered / wireless. The downside of course is rendering power will only be a fraction of what a powerful GPU can do, but one thing I've learned about presence and VR is you can be convinced you're somewhere else without needing "realistic" graphics.
Finally, we do have wireless PC VR today, via the TPCast. Later this year, HTC will launch a wireless accessory for both the Vive and Vive Pro. I would guess that true Generation 2 headsets (end of 2019?) will have the ability to run wired or wirelessly right out of the box.
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